Ciraldo's fine. He's inexperienced but he's got a good head on his shoulders and he'll improve as he goes. There's a balance that needs to be struck, especially as a new coach, when it comes to how ruthless you can be. For every person saying "Drop this ****, drop that ****," there'd be a media pundit criticising him for "not giving them a chance to gel." He dropped Flanno, he dropped Casey. He's willing to drop, based on performance but he's also likely aware of the fact that we don't have the cattle right now. We don't just have a couple of NRL level props and a proven, game winning, NRL level halfback biding their time in NSW Cup like everyone seems to think.
Bennett has done really well with the Phins but it's HIS team. He hand picked every player. That's a BIG difference between them and us right now. He has a hard nosed forward pack. We have a bunch of Tickle-Me-Elmos up front. Bennett is also a couple of years away from retiring and we'd be back to square 1 again. Last thing this club needs is another band-aid solution. Would likely have never seen eye to eye with Gus, either.
Flanagan would have kept Kyle around. Also, he's a former drug cheat. I'm sure he's learned his lesson and done his time but, from a PR standpoint, hiring him for the top job is going to attract all the wrong sort of attention. There's good reason he's not at the top of the discussion for the Dragons role.
